It doesn't exactly need to be stated in detail that the Celtics have had a difficult time in these playoffs. The Hawks, who would have been the #27 seed in the West, took them to 7 games. LeBron didn't even show up for half of the second round, and he still took the Celtics to 7. And now, the Celtics have lost the one thing they had been relying on throughout the playoffs - home court advantage.

But last night proved to be a microcosm for why this team is bound to fail.

As you know, the Big Three scored 75 points, with Ray Allen finally going off (plus all shot better than 50% from the field). The team was also 22-25 from the free throw line. Any time those things happen, the Celtics should win, period. Especially when they're at home.

But they lost because they were outcoached. And they've been outcoached the whole playoffs, even though one of the coaches they've gone up against is Mike Brown.

I've said in the past that what was going to prevent the Celtics from winning a championship while they have the Big Three is Doc Rivers, and that hasn't changed.

The day after the Celtics won Game 1, largely due to less than stellar games from Sheed and Billups, ESPN's Ric Bucher pointed out something pretty obvious. Antonio McDyess was killing Kendrick Perkins down low. Antonio McDyess shouldn't be killing anyone down low, but he was doing it to Perkins.

Bucher said pretty simply, if either Sheed or Billups play slightly better (which we all knew was going to happen), and Rivers leaves Perkins on McDyess, the Pistons will win in Boston. Of course McDyess again torched Perkins in Game 2 as Billups played better and the Celtics lost. This McDyess/Perkins matchup is already starting to remind me of Rivers' refusal to double team Joe Johnson in Game 4 of the Atlanta series. It pretty much defies logic.

It's not like they couldn't do something about it. They have Leon Powe on the bench, who Rivers seems to randomly ignore for indiscriminate periods of time. Why he does that remains a mystery considering how productive Powe is when he gets playing time.

But it's not just the Perkins/Powe problem that's being ignored. Rivers can't manage a bench to save his life. Last night he used 11 guys with 4 of them seeing less than 10 minutes of playing time. This isn't a hockey team Doc.

There's almost no consistency in how he inserts his bench players and how much time he gives them - which needless to say doesn't help you get into a rhythm as a player.

There's also the fact that the Celtics have started to run the ball through Pierce at the point more, which has hurt Ray Allen. Allen's a spot shooter who needs a good passer to get him the ball. Pierce isn't a good passer. Yes, Allen had a good game last night, but if Doc keeps giving Pierce significant touches at the point, he's going to decrease Allen's effectiveness.

Last, but certainly not least, we saw Boston's Jeykl and Hyde defense finally crack at home. The fact that the team can't consistently play the same defense at home and on the road is yet another sign of the ineptitude of Rivers. Heck, Jeff Van Gundy even tacitly suggested this last night.

What's unfortunate about all of this is that Pierce, KG, and Allen deserve better. Even with a great coach, I'm not sure they'd win it all, but they'd at least have a much better shot.

But for now, just stick a fork in them. They're done. And that's all on Doc Rivers' shoulders.